Various machines and devices are known for accepting items of currency in exchange for goods and services. In devices that accept items of currency there is often a validation component for determining type, validity and authenticity of the inserted currency, for example a bill validator as known in the art. An example of a bill validator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,352, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In some devices, there is a need to store the accepted currency that has been determined to be valid within the machine for either collection at a later time or for dispensing as part of a subsequent transaction. Storage of acceptable currency often takes the form of a cashbox or currency storage container.
When a machine or device stores currency, there are often concerns with the security and accessibility of the stored currency to prevent theft. Various measures have been developed to minimize theft from such storage areas for example, locks or tamper evident markers. Systems have also been developed to prevent extraction of an item of currency, for example a bill or banknote, once the machine has issued credit for the inserted bill.
An example of a system for preventing the extraction of a bill from a bill validation device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,589. The system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,589 utilizes a rotatable type gate to prevent a user from extracting an accepted banknote from a machine using a string attached thereto. Particularly, once the bill validator has accepted the banknote, a user may attempt to extract the accepted banknote using the attached string. However, the rotatable gate can be actuated so as to block the transportation path and thus prevent extraction of the banknote. This is often called string fraud. Actual string can be used as well as other thin flexible items such as wire, film, tape, etc. the disclosure herein is not limited to string-fraud.
Another example of a device to prevent the extraction of a banknote from a bill validator using a rotatable gate is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,110. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,110 utilizes a rotatable type gate positioned along the transport path of a banknote validator. In particular, the disclosed device has a driving device for rotatable the rotatable gate from a position allowing passage of a banknote there through to at least one position preventing passage of a banknote along the transportation path. Other features of the device disclosed in the foregoing patent include a bill validator with a rotator and driving device of the rotator which can be prevented from being damaged by inertial force of the rotator motor when the rotator is stopped in a position.
A disadvantage of the above devices, is that each is affixed within and forms an integral component of a currency handling device. Due to the intended function of a security gate device disclosed by the above devices, when a string fraud attempt is made, often the attached string will be wound around the rotating gate and thus disabling the currency handling unit. In order to enable the currency handling unit for subsequent operation, the currency handling unit must be serviced. This service often requires complicated disassembly and repair of the currency handling unit as a whole. Such a situation is undesirable.
Therefore there exists a need for a removable security gate mechanism that is capable of being easily replaced within a currency handling apparatus to lower costs and reduce device down time.
In environments where previously installed bill validators (i.e. bill validators without a gate security system) exist and there is need for an anti-string fraud system, rather than the complicated and expensive replacement of the entire currency handling systems as currently required. The expense and logistics involved with such a replacement initiative renders such a solution impractical.
Therefore there exists a need for a retrofittable security gate mechanism so as to be able to be installed to existing field based currency handling units.